SAV001, one of only a handful of HIV vaccines in the world, is based on a genetically-modified ‘dead’ version of the virus.

“We infect the cells with a genetically modified HIV-1,” team leader Dr. Chil-Yong Kang told Ontario Business Report. “The infected cells produce lots of virus, which we collect, purify and inactivate so that the vaccine won’t cause AIDS in recipients, but will trigger immune responses.”